Doctor Who is back on our screens for its 30th season. The first episode in the new series spoke to a Britain obsessed with body shape and dieting. Previous adventures have dramatised the threat of nuclear war, our addiction to shopping, and experiments in genetic engineering. Despite its cast of aliens, time lords and murderous robots, Doctor Who reflects the fears and obsessions of contemporary Britain with scalpel-sharp accuracy. It is also leading the way in bringing big-budget special effects to the small screen. A lesson on Doctor Who gives students an opportunity to investigate the hold that science fiction has on our imaginations and the technology that makes the show's special effects sequences possible.

The world of the Doctor

A new Doctor Who exhibition featuring props, costumes and creatures from the series has just opened in London (www.doctorwhoexhibitions.com). You can also find out about related exhibitions in Cardiff, Land's End and Blackpool on this website.

Challenge younger students to design an outfit for David Tennant's successor. Younger students might like to create their own Doctor Who story in a comic-book format (www.bbc.co.uk/doctor who/comicmaker/maker.shtml). Help older students to identify an aspect of modern society that they find interesting or worrying (such as our obsession with shopping) and to use it as the basis of a treatment for a new episode of the show.

Challenge pupils to design their own time machine based on one of the theories they have been introduced to in their study of time travel. Ask younger students to imagine that they have been allowed one trip in a time machine, and encourage them to compose a short piece of creative writing about where they would go and what they might see as they stepped out into a different era. The Daleks are among the most recognisable of the Doctor's foes: read about the genesis and construction of these beings (www.dalek6388.co.uk) before designing a new type of Dalek that incorporates as many advances in technology (including satellite navigation and wireless connectivity) as possible. With older students, explore the history of robotics (www.britannica.com/eb/article-9063935/robot and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_robots) before designing a robot that might appeal to the British mass market.

Challenge students to come up with their own special effects sequence for a Doctor Who episode. Younger students might like to storyboard their sequence, while older pupils could be encouraged to suggest the processes and technologies needed to construct the sequence.

· Teachers and students can find lesson packs on The Lesson subjects on the Guardian's daily newsdesk for schools, www.learnnewsdesk.co.uk. If your school isn't a subscriber request a free trial using the same url